It's been 16 television seasons since a.k.a. Pablo. Twelve seasons since Trial and Error. And 10 since Grand Slam. All three prime-time series starred Paul Rodriguez. They lasted a sum total of just 18 weeks, making him both a trailblazer and lately a smoldering advocate for increasing the number of Hispanics on network TV. "My gripe continues to be the absence of brown on television," he says during a recent stop in Dallas. "It's really unnecessary for Hispanic Americans to have color television, because it's still black and white.

Sen. Christopher Dodd urged Latino leaders Sunday to push for election, education and health care reforms and expressed support for the work they are already doing across the nation. "It is the work you do in communities across this country ... that makes a difference in the lives of people," Dodd told a breakfast crowd at the National Council of La Raza annual conference. The breakfast was in honor of La Raza's affiliates, about 300 organizations in 40 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., that provide services in their communities.

Miami Beach The National Council of La Raza will have its 2002 annual conference next month on Miami Beach. The conference will be held July 20-24 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Among the speakers lined up are House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, Mayors Manny Diaz and Alex Penelas. National Council of La Raza, or NCLR, touts itself as the largest national Hispanic civil rights organization in the nation.

The National Council of La Raza, a group traditionally associated with Mexican-Americans, is hoping to expand the participation of other Hispanics by bringing its annual conference to Miami Beach. By holding its convention in South Florida, home to a diverse group of Hispanics, La Raza President Raul Yzaguirre says the group wants to show that it is about representing the interests of all Latinos. "We want to make a statement by being there," Yzaguirre said. The conference will take place July 20-24 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, which was also the site of the group's 1994 conference.

HOUSTON -- The leader of the National Council of La Raza on Monday called the nation`s civil rights enforcement system "a sham" and sharply criticized the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission`s record on Hispanics in the 1980s, while Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas was at the helm. The EEOC dismissed Hispanic cases without remedy at a far higher rate than it did cases involving blacks or women and litigated on behalf of Hispanics far less often, a review of the EEOC conducted by La Raza shows.

President Clinton agreed on Wednesday to speak at a convention of Hispanic community organizations, a spokeswoman for the organizers said. Clinton will speak at a July 18 luncheon focusing on Washington issues at the annual gathering of the National Council of La Raza, which represents 170 community groups serving more than 2 million Hispanics. "The White House has confirmed and given us permission to release it," said La Raza spokeswoman Martha Peredo. The subject of Clinton's speech has not been released.

By David CM-azares Miami Bureau and Staff Writer Madeline BarM-s Diaz contributed to this report, July 20, 2002

When members of the National Council of La Raza, one of the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights groups, arrive in Miami Beach today for their annual convention, they will be ready to address a number of important issues, from challenges in education to the need to expand employment opportunities. But the estimated 15,000 attendees of La Raza, a predominantly Mexican-American organization that is reaching out to other Hispanics, also will be celebrating growing Latino political clout.

Before reggaeton swept through barrios and discos, musicians such as Larry Harlow drove young Hispanics to the dance floor with his brand of loud, brassy and hard salsa. Harlow, who is not Hispanic, became something of a superstar in the salsa movement in the 1970s and early '80s. At the height of his popularity, though, the pianist, bandleader and songwriter composed and recorded "La Raza Latina," a classical-style "salsa suite" that traced the music's roots to Africa and contained his vision of its future.

Weren't we supposed to enter a new age of tolerance with the election of President Barack Obama? His half-black, half-white ancestry and broad support across racial lines suggested that at last Americans judged each other on the content of our characters -- not the color of our skin or our tribal affiliations. Instead, in just 18 months of the Obama administration, racial discord is growing and relations seem to have been set back a generation. Black voters are galvanizing behind Obama at a time of rapidly falling support.

The federal government's escalating enforcement against illegal immigration is taking a heavy toll on children, a report released Wednesday argued. For every two adults arrested in workplace raids, one child is left without proper care or psychological support, creating lingering trauma with potentially broader social impacts, according to the report by the Urban Institute and the National Council of La Raza. The report came out the same day 23 allegedly illegal workers were picked up in a raid in Joliet, Ill., officials said.

Here's a storyline sure to boil a culture warrior's blood: A Kansas City grandmother is the target of a boycott threat by national civil rights organizations because she belongs to an organization opposed to illegal immigration. The boycott may end up costing my Midwestern city millions in convention business, in addition to an undeserved stain on its image. The hullabaloo started innocently enough in June, when Kansas City's newly-elected mayor appointed the grandmother, Frances Semler, to the city parks' board.

Vying for support from the country's fast-growing Hispanic electorate, the two leading Democratic presidential candidates said Sunday they would make immigration legislation a priority. In separate appearances at the National Council of La Raza convention in Miami Beach, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois both vowed to create a legalization path for the country's 12 million undocumented immigrants if they won the presidency. They made the pledges weeks after an immigration overhaul bill collapsed in Congress.

House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt will headline the Florida Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner on July 20 in Fort Lauderdale, party officials said. The Missouri Democrat, one of several mentioned as potential Democratic presidential contenders in 2004, will speak at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Also speaking will be Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidates former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Tampa lawyer Bill McBride and state Sen. Daryl Jones.

WASHINGTON -- The National Council of La Raza, the nation`s largest Hispanic organization, announced Thursday that it will oppose Senate confirmation of Judge Clarence Thomas for a Supreme Court seat. The NCLR, which represents 139 local organizations providing services to more than 2 million Hispanics, said it was opposing Judge Thomas because of what it called his "callous disregard" of Hispanics` civil rights during his tenure as chairman of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

With the presidential primary election season in full swing, some Hispanic activists say the Republican presidential hopefuls' decision to bypass this weekend's National Council of La Raza convention is a political miscalculation. The Hispanic civil rights group invited three Republican candidates to the convention, but they declined, just a month after passing up the gathering in Orlando of the National Association of Latino and Elected Appointed Officials. "They need to understand that the Latino vote will made a big difference in this election," said La Raza president Janet MurguM-ma at a recent news conference.

The National Council of La Raza, which calls itself the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, hopes to increase Hispanic political power by persuading more people to vote. That tops the agenda at the group's annual conference Saturday through Tuesday at the Miami Beach Convention Center, where Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are expected to be big draws. "We believe a top priority is for us to integrate Latinos into the political process," said National Council of La Raza spokeswoman Lisa Navarrete.